The present invention relates to a laser element assembly and a method of fabricating the laser element assembly. For example, a laser diode assembly used as the light source of an optical disk apparatus or others includes a laser diode and a holder for holding the laser diode, and is mounted on the optical disk apparatus or others so that a laser beam emitted from the laser diode travels in a desired direction. The present invention relates particularly to a laser element assembly which can be mounted on an optical disk apparatus or others so that a laser beam emitted from a laser element travels in a desired direction, and a method of fabricating such a laser element assembly.
A conventional laser diode assembly, as shown in FIG. 4, includes a laser diode 1, a holder 4 for holding the laser diode 1, and a joint 5. The holder 4 and the joint 5 are used to adjust the traveling direction of a laser beam emitted from the laser diode 1. The holder 4 has a spherical front surface, which is rotatably fitted in the joint 5. The holder 4 is rotated so that the traveling direction of the laser beam is perpendicular to a reference surface 3 of the laser diode assembly, and then fixed to the joint 5.
In the laser diode assembly having the above structure, the rotating position of the holder 4 is finely adjusted manually so that the laser beam travels in a direction perpendicular to the reference surface 3, and such adjustment requires a lot of time. Further, after the above adjustment, the rotating position of the holder 4 may vary with time and temperature. Thus, the optical axis of the laser diode assembly may deviate from a desired direction.
A laser diode assembly incorporated in an optical disk apparatus is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,001. This patent, however, fails to indicate how the traveling direction of the laser beam is adjusted in the laser diode assembly.